King Charles showed off his sporting knowledge when talking with Olympic champion Eve Muirhead (Image: PA)
King Charles showed off his curling knowledge when awarding Olympic champion Eve Muirhead her MBE and OBE. Muirhead, 35, captained Team GB to the gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, playing alongside Vicky Wright, Hailey Duff, Jen Dodds and Mili Smith.
It was Team GB’s only gold at the Beijing Games and the first for the Scottish curler, who’d previously won bronze at the 2014 Sochi Games. The glorious success coupled with the illustrious career she’s had saw her invited to Windsor Castle to collect her honours from the monarch, who was the Prince of Wales at the time.
Speaking after the ceremony, the Perth-born Muirhead revealed that Charles demonstrated a deep knowledge of curling during their conversation. Demonstrating his genuine interest in getting to know those who earn the prestigious honour, the monarch made it a “very special day” for the former curler.
Muirhead said: “It went really well and it was actually a really exciting moment to receive my OBE alongside my MBE, as I recently got upgraded to OBE, and the chance to receive them together was really special. And to get the chance to speak to Charles and he knew a lot about curling, which is always nice, yeah, it’s a very special day, a lot of great memories.
“He just spoke about where I started curling and where I train now and then he spoke a little bit about curling in Balmoral, because there is a lot of outside curling up there. So he knew a lot about it in terms of Balmoral, obviously they have a lot of connections there, so it was nice that he reflected on that.”
The former curler became an Olympic champion in 2022 (Image: Getty)
Muirhead retired from curling in August 2022 and has since served in the role of Chef de Mission for Team GB at the the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics. She’s returned to the role for the senior team at the 2026 Winter Olympics this month. Earlier this week, she opened up about the mental struggles she endured during her career, admitting she hit rock bottom.
Writing in Women’s Health, she penned: “In Vancouver, we won our first match; four years later, at the next Winter Olympics, I became the youngest skip to win a medal when I picked up bronze. But even then, I felt disappointed to have missed out on silver and gold. And when, four years later at the PyeongChang Olympics, I missed out on winning another bronze, my mental health nosedived.
“In the years that followed, I felt like I’d failed. And when we initially didn’t qualify for a spot at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, I began to believe they were better off without me. Seven months before the Games, I was diagnosed with severe depression. The hopelessness became so intense that I didn’t want to be here any more.
“The feeling was temporary and, with encouragement from my family and teammates, I saw a clinical psychologist. I started to recognise that it was okay to put myself first; that the team’s success didn’t rely on me. Alongside therapy, I was prescribed antidepressants and, when the month of the Games arrived, I felt lighter.
“We went on to win gold. It was an incredible feeling and, when the time came to qualify for the next Winter Olympics, I made the difficult decision to retire. I’d already won gold, and I worried that returning to competing risked sending me back to a dark place.”